jim wrote:
> With out the condenser hooked up
> it had a little spark, but the spark was very weak.


I showed this same thing in a different way trying to test the coil on
my Sportster motorcycle. Used a plain piece of wire instead of points
and condenser, touching the wire to ground manually and pulling it off
to create the spark, seen by looking at a spark plug out in the open
(grounded to the threads, of course). The spark generated in this
manner was so puny it was hardly visible. When I added a condenser
the spark was big and audible.